Poultry shackle



p 1954 A. w. SHARP ETAL POULTRY SHACKLE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 6,1951 Sept. 14, 1954 A. w. SHARP ETAL 2,688,765

POULTRY SHACKLE Filed Feb. 6, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Sept. 14,1954 POULTRY SHACKLE Allen W. Sharp and Edward S. Crane, -ttumwa, Iowa,assignors to Barker Poultry Equipment 00., Ottumwa, Iowa, a corporationof Iowa Application February 6, 1951, Serial No. 209,639

19 Claims.

This invention relates to a shackle, and more particularly to a shacklefor holding a fowl during a picking operation.

The shackle of the present invention is included in that general typewhich suspends the fowl by the legs in head-down position, and ismounted for carrying the fowl through a picking machine.

The dressing of poultry has become in recent years a mass productionoperation. It is desirable that the fowl being dressed be quickly andeasily suspended or released from the conveyor chain which carries thefowl through the numerous poultry dressing operations.

Some of the early shackles were made of wire frame, of which someelements were sprung toward each other in a clasping position. The legsof the fowl were easily inserted between leg holding elements, whichwere spring loaded. To release the fowl it was necessary to manuallygrasp the spring members and to force them away from the legs of thefowl to release the legs.

If the spring force was too great, insertion of the legs and releasethereof became a problem. If the spring force was too small, some of thestronger birds could struggle free, or if they were heavy enough somebirds would slip out of the shackle.

More recently there has been a trend to make shackles with grasping jawmembers. Some of these shackles retained the idea of using the legs ofthe fowl to force the jaw members apart for entrance of the legs intothe shackle. Some of the shackles had means for positively ejecting thelegs from the shackle. Other shackles had means for cocking the graspingjaws in an open position with trigger means for snapping the jaws shutwhen the legs of the fowl were introduced into the shackle.

This invention falls in the latter class of shackles. One of theundesirable features in this latter class of shackles, as in all theother shackles, is that only about the same force is necessary to beapplied directly to the jaws of the shackle to open them as need beapplied to the cooking mechanism. Now it is desirable that the cockingof the jaws be a simple and nonexhausting operation, as a worker may berequired to cook many thousands of shackles during a day. But if theforce needed to cock the shackle is small, some of the stronger fowl maybe able to apply a great enough force upon the shackle jaws to force thejaws open.

In the type of shackles wherein the shackle is cocked open and a triggeris supplied for closing the jaws, it is customary to employ a springbiased pawl for cocking the jaws. One spring is used for operating thejaws of the shackle and a second and much weaker spring is used tooperate the pawl. The weaker spring is necessary to permit triggering ofthe mechanism with small forces. The use of two springs, of course,doubles the possibility of failure of parts. Furthermore, the use of arelatively weak spring on the pawl makes jamming of the pawl by foreignmatter a problem.

The jaw type poultry shackles heretofore in use include pivotable leafmembers having notches therein which cooperate with notches in a basemember. The notches in the leaves are of tapering width to accommodatedifferent size legs. In the release of the legs from the shackle, theleaves are pivoted toward the open position, thus gradually releasingthe grasped legs. This often results in one leg being released beforethe other. It is more desirable to have a sharp and sudden opening ofthe grasping jaws for simultaneous release of the legs of the fowl.

In the leaf type shackles, usually a portion of the leaf is pivoted to aposition where it prevents outward movement of the leg from theregistered notches. Thus the leg being grasped must be positioned justright so that it is positioned to be grasped as the notches in the leafand base register, and must not be in the way of the portion of the leafwhich pivots to position to close the notches.

Thus, one of the objects of this invention is to provide a shackle whichmay be cocked in an open position with a trigger operable by an objectthrust into the jaws of the shackle to effect closing of the shackle,which shackle may be easily opened by the cooking mechanism but whichresists opening by a force applied to the jaws of the shackle.

Another object of this invention is to provide a shackle having claspingjaws and a pawl mechanism for locking said jaws in an open position,said jaws and pawl mechanism being operable by a single spring.

A further object of this invention is to provide a shackle having a pawlmechanism which is triggered by a small force and which is biased tolocking position by the spring which operates the jaws of the shackle.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a shackle whereinthe clasping jaws may be spread sharply and suddenly to effectsimultaneous release of both legs of the fowl and to obviate need of amember for ejecting the grasped articles from the shackle.

Still a further object of this invention is to provide a shackle havingsimple clasping jaws which simply and easily receive and position thearticles to be grasped and which effectively close and open end of thejaws.

Further objects and advantages of this inven tion will become apparentas the following description proceeds and the features of novelty whichcharacterize this invention will be pointed out with particularity inthe claims annexed to and forming part of this specification.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanyingdrawing, in which- Figure 1 is a front elevation of the shackle withparts broken away showing the legs of a fowl rasped by the jaws of theshackle;

Figure 2 is a view taken on the line .2--.2 -.of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a side View and looking from the right of the shackle shownin Figure l, with part of the shackle stem omitted and with the jaws inclosed position;

Figure .4 is similar to Figure 3 and is a crosssection view taken online t-t of Figure 1;

Figure 5 is an enlarged plan view of the grasping jaws of the shackleshowing the leg of a fowl therein;

Figure 6 is a cross-section view taken on line SB of Figure 5;

Figure 7 is a cross-section view taken on line ll' of Figure 3,-showingthe jaws of the shackle in the full open position with the handle of theshackle moved downward to its lowest position wherein the'cams engagethe uppermost edge of the cam tracks;

Figure 8 is a cross-section view taken on the line 8-3 of Figure 7;

Figure 9 is similar to Figure 7, showing the shackle in the latched openposition after the handlehas been released from the position shown inFigure 7 and with the latch means holding the shackle open;

Figure if) is a cross-section view taken on line lG-i Sof Figure 9.

Referring now to the drawings, there is shown in Figure 1 a poultryshackle generally indicated at iii suspended by a chain l2 from aconveyor (not shown). Connected to the chain l2 and extending therebelowis an elongated support which includes stem member 14 which extendsvertically and has fastened at the lower end thereof, and forming partof said support, a downward pointing U-shaped member generally indicatedat l6. The member It has a pair of oppositely facing and downwardlyextending long arms l8 and a pair of oppositely facing and downwardlyextending short arms 26. The short arms are displaced substantially 90from the long arms l8.

Journalled in the long arms 18 of member 16 is a pivot shaft 22 having ahead 24 at one end. thereof and equipped at the other end with a cotterpin 26 to retain the pin 22 in position. Pivotally mounted on pin 22 area pair of complementary jaw members generally indicated at 28 and 30.

A tubular handle member generally indicated at 32 is mountedconcentrically on stem [4. A spring .34 is positioned concentricallyonstem l4 and is positioned between stem [4 and handle 32. A flange 36is welded to the upper end of handle 32 to engage-the upper end ofspring 34.

A toggle plate 38 is positioned above member it and encircles stem I4.The lower end of spring 34 is positioned against the upper face oftoggle plate 38. The spring 34 is under compression and serves to biasthe handle 32 upwardly. The upper portion l5 of stem l 4 is flaredoutwardly to engage the flange 36 of handle 32 to prevent the handlefrom being pushed upwardly off the stem M.

The lower end of the handle 32 is defined by washer-like member 48 whichis welded to the lower end oftubular handle 32. Extending downwardlyfrom the lower face of washer-like member 40 are a pair of spacedparallel arms 42 and 44 joined together at their lower ends for rigidity.by transverse member 43. These arms 42 and '44 are best shown in theside views, Figures 3, 4, '8 .and 10. The arms 12 and M have thereinslots -48 to provide for relative motion downward of the handle and armswith respect to the .pins 22. The arms 42 and 44 extend laterallyoutward to form ears 4?; and 5% adjacent their lower portions. Thehandle 32 with arms 42 and 44 attached thereto is a unitary member thatmay be referred to as a spreader member, which .is descriptive of itsoperation as will be seen from the description of operation hereinbelow.

The ears d8 and 5! on arms 22 and i i provide for .cam tracks 52 and 5 6which are cut therein. These cam tracks are slots which, from theirlowest point, extend upwardly at a small angle tapering outwardly fromthe vertical. Toward their upper ends, the cam tracks suddenly taperoutwardly from the vertical more sharply, for a reason that will be seenhereinafter.

Referring back to the jaw members 28 and .30, .the jaw member 23includes a horizontally disposed elongated bar it and a pair ofupstanding flange members 58. The flange members 53 arepivotally mountedon the pin 22. The righthand end of bar 56 is serrated at its innerface, as shown at 59, in Figure 2. lhe left-hand end of bar 56 haswelded to the upper and lower edges thereof *a pair of serrated bars(-28 and E2. The upper serrated bar 62 has a tongue 64 which extendstransverse to the longitudinal direction of the bar 56. A fillet member05 is welded between each flange 53 and the elongated bar 53 to providerigidity to the jaw member.

The jaw member 39 is formed similarly to jaw member 28 but the serratedends of the elongated bar portion of the jaw member are in reversedposition from that described with respect to jaw member .28. In this waythe opposite serrated portions of oppositely facing jaw members lie in.diiferentplanes, as shown at 66 in Figure 3, and as more clearly shownin Figure 6. The oppositely facing jawmembers 28 and 3-3 are identicalmembers, "but since they are not laterally symmetrical and because theyface each other they are referred to as complementary members.

The'flanges 58 of the jaw member 28 have a pin "19 extendingtherethrough. This pin is located approximately half-way between theelongated bar 56 and the pivot pin 22. Mounted on this pin 10 is aroller 72. This roller 12 is positioned within cam tracks 52 in the arms4'2 and '44. The jaw member 38 has a similar roller 14 which ispositioned in cam tracks 54 of arms 42 and. These rollers 12 and 'Mserve as cam followers.

A pin 16 is journalled in short legs 20 of U- shaped member l6 and at T!in the lower end of stem [4, as shown in Figure l. The pin l6 extendstransversely to pin 22 journalled in legs [30f member l6, and ispositioned above shaft 22. Pivotally'mounted on pin 16 is a triggermember generally indicated at 18. This trigger member 18 is laterallyoffset adjacent the upper end thereof, as indicated at 88 in Figure 4,to provide clearance for the pin 22. The upright leg 82 of triggermember 18 extends through a slot 45 in transverse member 43 and ispositioned substantially between the oppositely facing jaw members 28and 38.

This lower portion of trigger member 18 is L-shaped in form, as seen inFigure 1. The transverse leg 84 of trigger member 18 has a bar 86attached thereto. This bar 86 overlies the pocket or socket 81 formed bythe spaced apart jaw members 28 and 38. A tooth or pawl 88 is formed inthe upstanding leg 82 of trigger member I8, for a purpose that will bedescribed hereinafter.

The uppermost edge 98 of trigger member I8 located above the pivot pin16 slopes upwardly to the left, as shown in Figures 1, 7 and 9. Thissloping edge 98 forms a peak 92 at the upper left-hand corner of thetrigger member 18. This peak 92 extends above the uppermost extent ofthe U- shaped member I6 and engages the bottom face of the toggle plate38. The spring 34 bearing upon the upper face of toggle plate 38 exertsa force on the peak 92 of trigger member 18 to give a counterclockwisemoment to the trigger member '18 around the pivot pin 16.

The pawl 88 on the trigger member 18 butts against the arm 44 when theshackle is in closed position, but when the shackle is in the openposition, the slot 48 in arm 44 registers with the pawl 88 and permitsrotation of the trigger member counterclockwise about pin 16. Thispermits the pawl 88 to engage the lowermost edge 41 of slot 45 and toprevent the return of the handle 32 to the forward position under thebias of spring 34. Thus, the pawl 88 effectively looks the shackle in anopen position.

When an article such as the leg 94 of the fowl is inserted in the openpocket formed by the spread apart jaw members 28 and 30, it will strikethe bar 86 at the end of trigger member 18. Only a slight force isnecessary to cause the trigger 18 to be pivoted about pin 18 and thetooth, or pawl, 88 is disengaged from the surface 41 of slot 46, thuspermitting spring 34 to return the handle to the uppermost position andsnapping shut the jaws of the shackle on the leg of the fowl.

Although the spring 84 is a very strong spring, it will be seen that thelever arm from the point of contact, of the leg 94, with the bar 86 tothe pivot pin 16 is very much greater than the lever arm from the peak92 to the pivot pin 16, and thus only a small force is necessary totrigger the shackle.

In the operation of the shackle, the spring 34 has the spreader member,comprising handle 32 and arms 42 and 44, normally biased upwardly. Whenthis occurs, the rollers 12 and 14 are in the lowermost part of the camtracks 52 and 54 and the jaw members 28 and 38 are closed, as shown inFigures 3 and 4. To cook the shackle to the open position, the handle 32is grasped by the operator and the spreader member is pulled downwardly.It will be seen that the washer-like member 48 provides a support forthe hand of the operator and also prevents the operator from moving hishand into any of the apparatus that is moving, where he may be injured.As the handle 32 and the arms 42 and 44 are moved downwardly, the jawmembers 28 and 38 of the shackle are spread until the lower edge 41 ofslot 46 registers with the pawl 88 in trigger member 18. When the pawl88 enters the slot 46 and en- V 6 gages the lower surface 41 thereof,the shackle will be locked in the open position.

To explain the spreading operation of the jaw members 28 and 38, it willbe seen that as the handle 32 and ears 42 and 44 move downwardly, thecam tracks 52 and 54 are moved downwardly relative to the cam followers12 and '44. During the greater portion of the downward movement of thecam tracks, the cams 12 and '14 move outward slightly because of thevery small included angle between the cam tracks and the vertical.Toward the end of the downward movement of the cam tracks, there is asudden divergence of the cam tracks and the jaws are suddenly andsharply opened. This is very desirable for the purpose of completelyreleasing simultaneously all objects that are grasped by the jaws of theshackle. This sudden spreading of the jaws takes place just before theregistering of the pawl 88 with the slot 46 in ear 44.

To insure the engagement of pawl 88 with the lowermost edge 41 of slot46, movement of the cams in the cam tracks to a point beyond thelatching position is provided. This is clearly shown in Figures 7 to 10,where in Figures 7 and 8 the cams 12 and 14 are in engagement with theuppermost limit of cam tracks 52 and 54. At this point pawl 88 has movedinto slot 46 but does not engage the lowermost edge 41 of slot 46.

In Figures 9 and 10, the handle 32 has been released and the spring 34has biased the handle upwardly. In this position, the latched openposition, the pawl 88 is engaging edge 4'! of slot 46. It will be seenin Figure 10 that the earns 12 and 14 are slightly below the uppermostlimit of the cam tracks 52 and 54.

In the insertion of the legs of the fowl into the shackle, the operatorgrasps the fowl by the legs and simultaneously enters the legs betweenthe oppositely facing bars 56 of the jaw members 28 and 38. The legs areprevented from moving inwardly too far between the bars 56 by means ofthe tongues 64 which protrude across the space and form a bottom wallfor the pocket or socket which is formed by the spread apart bars.

The legs are entered simultaneously in opposite ends of the spaced apartjaws of the shackle, and as the one leg 94 engages element 86 of thetrigger member 18, the pawl member is released as described above, andthe jaws of the shackle snap shut on the legs. The shackle does notclose to the fully closed position, since the legs of the fowl areinserted therebetween. The release of the fowl is accomplishedsimultaneously with the cooking of the shackle for receiving the nextfowl. The operator simply pulls down the handle 32 until the pawl 88again locks the shackle in an open position. The sudden divergence ofthe cam tracks 52 and 54 during the cooking of the shackle causes animmediate and complete release of the legs of the fowl that are graspedby the shackle jaws.

There are a number of novel features in the jaw formation of theshackle. The jaw members 28 and 38 bound a socket or pocket 81, as shownin Figure 5. The serrations 96 and 98 on opposite sides of the pocket 81are positioned at different levels. These serrations 96 and 98 pointinwardly toward the base of the pocket 8! and also are tapered so thatthe pocket 8! is widest adjacent the innermost end I88 of the pocket 81.The innermost end I88 is bounded by tongue 64.

The inwardly pointing serrations 96 and 98 and the outwardly taperingpocket 81 prevent the bird from :kicking its legs outward and out of theshackle. "The tapered pocket 8.? between the jaws of the shackle make itnecessary that the jaws be opened a little in order that the bird maykick itself free from the shackle. Ho, ever, as explained above, directforce on the clamping jaws will fail to open the clamping jaws. "This istrue because of the presence of the cams and cam slots. While inprevious devices the legs of the fowl were held by means of directspring pressure, here, although the spring is operable to resist motionof the cams relative to the .cam tracks, the small angle of dl vergenceof the :cam tracks cooperates with the camsto resist spreading of thejawsof the shackle and more positive gripping of :the legs of the fowlis obtained.

While there has been shown and described a particular embodiment of thisinvention, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that variouschanges and modifications ;may be made therein without departing fromthe invention and, therefore, it is intended in the appended claims tocover all such changes and modifications asfall within thetrue spiritand scopeof the invention.

What we claim as ,newand desire to secure by Letters Patent of theUnited States is:

l. A shackle comprising a support, a pair of jaw members pivotallymounted .on said support and normally biased toward each other toclasping position, means operatively associated with said jaw membersfor spreading said jaw members to an open position, a latchcarried bysaid support for locking said jaw members in said open position, and asingle spring operatively associated with said jaw members and saidlatch for biasing said jaw members to clasping position and for biasingsaid latch toward the locking position.

2. A shackle comprising a support, a pair of jaw members pivotallymounted on said support and normally biased toward eachother to claspingposition, means operatively ass ciated with said jaw members forspreading said jaw members to an open position, latch means carried bysaid support for locking said jaw members in said open position, asingle spring operatively associated with said jaw members and saidlatch means for biasing said jaw members to clasping position and forbiasing said latch means toward the locking position, and a triggerattached to said latch means and extending over a portion of the openjawmembers, whereby an object entering saidlopen jaws will trip the latch,causing the jaws to be biased toward each other to the claspingposition.

3. A shackle comprising a support, a pair of jaw members pivotallymounted on said support and normally biased toward each other toclasping position, means operatively associated with said jaw membersfor spreadingsaid jaw members to an open position, latch means carried.by said support for locking said jaw members in said open position, asingle spring operatively associated with said jaw members and saidlatch means for biasing said jaw members to clasping position and forbiasing said latch means toward the locking position, a trigger attachedto said latch means and extending over a portion of the open jawmembers, whereby an objectentering said open jaws will trip the latch,causing the jaws to be biased toward each other to the-claspingposition, said :latch means comprising a -pivoted member carried by saidsupport-ands, toggle plate biased by said spring against said pivotedmember at a point where a moment forceis applied to said pivoted memberabout its pivot.

4. A shackle comprising a support, a pair .of jaw members pivotallymounted on said support and normally biased toward each other toclasping position, a handle carried by said support, ears fixed to saidhandle, said handle and ears being movable with respect to the pivotmounting of said jaw members, spring means engaging said handle andbiasing said handle in one direction with respect to the pivot mountingof said jaw members, and :cam means on said jaw members and said earscooperating to spread said jaw members as the :handle is moved inanother direction with respect "to the pivot mounting of said jawmembers, said cam means cooperating to resist spreading of the jawmembers upon application of a spreading force directly-to said jawmembers.

5. ,A shackle comprising an elongated support, a'pair of jaw memberspivotally mounted on said support and normally biased toward each otherto clasping position, a handle carried by said support, ears fixed tosaid handle, said handle and ears being reciprocable longitudinally ofthe support and with respect to the pivot mounting of said jaw members,spring means engaging said handle and biasing said handle in onedirection with respect to the pivot mounting of said jaw members, cammeans on a pair of 00- operating members consisting of said jaw membersand said ears cooperating to spread said jaw members as thehandle ismoved in another direction with respect to the pivot mounting of saidjaw members, said cam means cooperating to resistspreading of the jawmembers upon application of a spreading force directly to said jawmembers, said camgmeans comprising elongated cam tracks in one of saidpair of cooperating members diverging slightly from the longitudinalaxis of said support over a greater portion of their length ,and'thendiverging sharply over the remainder of their length, and cam followers,carried by the other of said pair of cooperating members, in said .camtracks positioned so as to first traverse the slightly diverging portionof the cam tracks as the jaws are spread, whereby substantiallongitudinal motion of the cam tracks relative to the cam followers isrequired to effect spreading of the jaws, and whereby a relatively smallspring force will resist a relatively great spreading force applieddirectly to the jaws.

6. A shackle comprising an elongated support, apair of jawmemberspivotally mounted on said supportand normally biased toward each otherto clasping position, a handle carried by said support, ears fixed tosaid handle, said handle and ears being reciprocable longitudinally ofthe support and with respect to the pivot mounting of said jaw members,spring means operatively associated with said handle for biasing saidhandle in one direction with respect to the pivot mounting of said jawmembers, cam means on said jaw members and said ears cooperating tospread said jaw members as the handle is moved inthe oppositedirection-with respect to the pivot mounting of said jaw members, saidcam means cooperating to resist spreading of the jaw members uponapplication of. a spreading force directly to said jaw members, said cammeans comprising elongated 'cam tracks .in said ears diverging slightlyfrom the longitudinal axis of said support over a greater portion .oftheir length and then diverging sharply over the remainder of theirlength, and cam followers on said jaw members operatively associatedwith said cam tracks and positioned so as to first traverse the slightlydiverging portion of the cam tracks as the jaws are spread, wherebysubstantial longitudinal motion of the cam tracks relative to the camfollowers is required to effect spreading of the jaws, and whereby arelatively small spring force will resist a relatively great spreadingforce applied directly to the jaws.

'7. A shackle comprising an elongated support, a pair of jaw memberspivotally mounted on said support and normally biased toward each otherto clasping position, a handle carried by said support, ears fixed tosaid handle, said handle and ears being reciprocable longitudinally ofthe support and with respect to the pivot mounting of said jaw members,spring means biasing said, handle and ears in one direction with respectto the pivot mounting of said jaw members, cam means on said jaw membersand said ears cooperating to spread said jaw members as the handle ismoved in the opposite direction with respect to the pivot mounting ofsaid jaw members, said cam means cooperating to resist the spreading ofthe jaw members upon application of a spreading force directly to saidjaw members, latch means operatively associated with said jaws forlocking said jaws in an open position, and a single spring operativelyassociated with said jaw members and said latch means for biasing saidjaws to clasping position and for biasing said latch means toward thelocking position.

8. A shackle comprising a support, a pair of jaw members pivotallymounted on said support, a single spring operatively associated withsaid jaw members for biasing said jaw members to clasping position,means for spreading the jaw members suddenly, whereby complete releaseof the clasped articles is effectuated, said means for spreading the jawmembers suddenly comprising a member carried by said support andreciprocable with respect to the pivot mounting of said jaw members,said member having therein cam tracks which diverge sharply, and camfollowers on said jaw members positioned in said cam tracks and movablerelative to said cam tracks along the length thereof.

9. A shackle having a pair of jaw members, each jaw member comprising anelongated bar oppositely facing a complementary member of the other jawmember, said elongated bars being serrated adjacent the ends of theiropposed faces, one end of eachbar having serrations in the plane of thebar, the other end having serrations thereon in planes displaced fromthe plane of the bar, and said bars being disposed so that the one endof one bar faces the other end on the oppositely facing bar, whereby theserrations of adjacent oppositely facing ends are positioned atdifferent levels with respect to each other, and said jaw members beingmounted for pivoting about an axis substantially parallel to saidelongated bars.

10. A shackle having a pair of jaw members, each jaw member comprisingan elongated bar oppositely facing a complementary member of the otherjaw member, said elongated bars being serrated adjacent the ends oftheir opposed faces, one end of each bar having serrations in the planeof the bar, the other end having serrations thereon in planes spacedparallel to the plane of the bar, said bars being disposed so that theone end of one bar faces the other end on the oppositely facing bar,whereby the serrations of adjacent oppositely facing ends are positionedat different levels with respect to each other, and tongues spacedinwardly from the ends of the bars extending substantially across thespace between the bars when they are spread apart, and said jaw members,when spread apart, cooperating to define therebetween a pair of spacedsockets.

11. A shackle having a pair of jaw members, each jaw member comprisingan elongated bar oppositely facing a complementary member of the otherjaw member, said jaw members being mounted for pivoting about an axissubstantially parallel to said elongated bars, said elongated bars beingserrated adjacent the ends of their opposed faces, one end of each barhaving serrations in the plane of the bar, the other end havingserrations thereon in planes spaced from the plane of the bar, said barsbeing disposed so that the one end of one bar faces the other end on theoppositely facing bar, whereby the serrations of adjacent oppositelyfacing ends are positioned at different levels with respect to eachother, and tongues spaced inwardly from the ends of the bars extendingsubstantially across the space between the bars when they are spreadapart, said tongues being displaced from the plane of the bar andextending transverse to the length thereof, and being located adjacentthe innermost extent of the adjacent serrations at the ends of the bars,and said jaw members, when spread apart, cooperating to definetherebetween a pair of spaced sockets.

12. A shackle having a pair of jaw members, each jaw member comprisingan elongated bar oppositely facing a complementary member of the otherjaw member, said jaw members being mounted for pivoting about an axissubstantially parallel to said elongated bars, said elongated bars beingserrated adjacent the ends of their opposed faces, one end of each barhaving serrations in the plane of the bar, the other end havingserrations thereon in planes above and below the plane of the bar, saidbars being disposed so that the one end of one bar faces the other endon the oppositely facing bar, whereby the serrations of the oppositelyfacing ends are positioned at different levels with respect to eachother, and tongues spaced inwardly from the ends of the bars extendingsubstantially across the space between the bars when they are spreadapart, a pair of said opposite serrated ends and the adjacent tonguesubstantially bounding a pocket open at its outer end, saidl serratedends tapering away from each other from the tip ends thereof, wherebysaid pocket is of increasing width from the ends of the bars to saidtongue.

13. A shackle having a pair of jaw members, each jaw member comprisingan elongated bar oppositely facing a complementary member of the otherjaw member, said jaw members being mounted for pivoting about an axissubstantially parallel to said elongated bars, said elongated bars beingserrated adjacent the ends of their opposed faces, one end of each barhaving serrations in the plane of the bar, the other end havingserrations thereon in planes above and below the plane of the bar, saidbars being disposed so that the one end of one bar faces the other endon the oppositely facing bar, whereby the serrations of the oppositelyfacing ends are positioned at different levels with respect to eachother, and tongues spaced inwardly from the ends of the bars extendingsubstantially across the space between the bars when they are spreadapart, a pair of said opposite serrated ends and the adjacent tonguesubstantially bounding a pocket open at its outer end, said serratedends tapering away from each other from the tip ends thereof, wherebysaid pocket is of increasing width from the ends of the bars to saidtongue, the serrations on said bars pointing generally towards the inn rends of the pockets.

14. A shackle comprising a pair of jaw members, said jaw members havingportions thereof adapted to be spread apart to bound an open endedpocket, saidpocket tapering along its length to its smallest widthattheopen end thereof, a spreader member operatively associated with said jawmembers affording means for opening said jaw members, and cam meansoperatively associated with said jaw members to prevent spreadof saidpocket bounding portions of the jaw members by forces applied directlyto said pocket bounding portions, said cam means comprising elongatedcam tracksin said spreader member, and cam followers carried by said jawmembers positioned in said cam tracks.

15. A shackle comprising a pair of jaw members, said jaw members havingportions adapted to be spread apart to bound an open ended pocket, saidpocket tapering along its length to its smallest width at the openendthereof, said pocket bounding portions having serrations pointinggenerally toward the portion of the pocket of greatest width, a spreadermember operatively associated with said jaw members affording means foropening said jaw members, and cam means operatively associated with saidjaw members to prevent spreading of said pocket bounding portions of thejaw members by' forces applied directly to said pocket boundingportions, said cam means comprising elongated cam tracks in saidspreader member, and cam followers carried by said jaw memberspositioned: in said cam tracks.

16. A shackle comprising an elongated support, a pair of jaw membershaving jaws formed at one end thereof and each mounted on said supportto pivot about a pivot axis lying transverse to the-longitudinal axis-ofthe support, a reciproeating spreader member carried by said support andmovable in opposite directions parallel to the longitudinal axisofsaidsup-port, cam means operatively associated withsaid spreadermember and said jaw members to effectuate opening and closing of saidjaws-,and a spring carried by said support and biasingv said spreadermember in a direction to effectuate closing of said jaws.

17. A shackle comprising an elongated support, a pair of jawmembershaving jaws formed at one end thereof and each mounted on. saidsupport to pivot about apivot axis-lying transverse to the longitudinalaxis of the support, a reciprocating spreader member carried by saidsupport and movable in opposite directions parallel to the longitudinalaxis of said support, cam means operatively associated with saidspreader member and said jaw members to effectuate opening and closingof said jaws, and a spring carried by said support and biasing saidspreader member in a direction to effectuate closing of said jaws, saidcam means comprising cam tracks and cam followers in operativeengagement with each other at points spaced radially from said pivotaxis.

18. A shackle comprising an elongated support, a pair of jaw membershaving jaws formed at one end thereof and each mounted on said supportto pivot about a pivot axis lying transverse to the longitudinal axis ofthe support, a reciprocating spreader member carried by said support andmovable in opposite directions parallel to the longitudinal axis of saidsupport, cam means operatively associated with said spreader member andsaid jaw members to effectuate opening and closing of said jaws, aspring carried by said support and biasing said spreader member in adirection to efiectuate closing of said jaws, a latch operativelyassociated with said jaw members for locking said jaw members in saidopen position, and said spring also being operatively associated withsaid latch for biasing said latch toward the locking position,

19. A shackle comprising an elongated support, a pair of jaw membershaving jaws formed at one end thereof and each mounted on said supportto pivot about a pivot axis lying transverse to the longitudinal axis ofthe support, a reciprocating spreader member carried by said support andmovable in opposite directions parallel to the longitudinal axis of saidsupport, cam means operatively associated with said spreader member andsaid jaw members to effectuate opening and closing of said jaws, aspring carried by said support and biasing said spreader member in adirection to effectuate closing of said jaws, a latch, operativelyassociated with said jaw members for lock' ing said jaw members in saidopen position, said spring also being operatively associated with saidlatch for biasing said latch toward the locking position, and a triggersecured to said latch overlying the space between the open jaw membersand affording means for tripping the latch to release the jaw membersfrom the open position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 877,717 Jones Jan. 28, 1908 1,166,382 Morse Dec. 28, 19152,435,706 Barker Feb. 10, 1948 2,438,608 Johnson Mar. 30, 1948 FOREIGNPATENTS Number Country Date 154,494 Switzerland July 16, 1932

